Mystic Waters
by Flux and Flow
Summary: In a quiet town, Rin lives with her aunt. On the day a new boy shows up next door, Rin soon discovers the surreal things happening when two worlds are brought to be seen in her own eyes.
1. Prologue

**AUTHORS NOTE:**

**YAAA a Vocaloid story after like 2 years...:D. Re-reading Love is a Crime made me cringe x_x I'll still leave it up for people who still want to read it but I really don't suggest that if you don't like unfinished stories and crappy writing skills xD I'll post around 1-2 chapters at the end of the each week cause I'm starting school. **

**Disclaimer: I own none of the characters that are included in my stories except my OC's. The story belongs to me.**

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

"Papa…?"

Emptiness surrounded the halls like a wave of mist.

I searched his bedroom but found no traces of my father anywhere.

I slowly walked down the stairs, descending to the main floor of the house.

"Ok papa, you win! I don't want to play hide and seek anymore!" I yelled.

There was still no response.

Curling a blonde lock of hair in between my index finger, I walked into the kitchen to make myself a glass of orange juice.

I was making my way to the fridge when I stepped into a large wet puddle. A metallic scent soon assaulted my sense of smelling.

It was blood.

Letting out a yelp of surprise, I ran out of the kitchen, leaving bloody footprints all over the white marble tiles. There was no way my father would ever play a joke like this. I prayed that maybe it was fake blood but it was all too real to pretend.

"Papa, please come out now! We're not playing anymore." I called out really loud so my voice could echo throughout the house.

When no familiar face showed up, nervousness swarmed my body.

I walked back into the kitchen to examine the blood puddle when I heard a loud thump coming from our backyard.

"R-Rin." I heard father's strangled voice. It was faint but audible.

Wasting no time, I swung open the backdoor in the kitchen but I stopped after I saw what was outside.

An intense fear pulsed through me that felt like a thousand needles piercing my back all at once.

The horrible scene lay out in front of me. My father was on his back on the grass with a chunk of his neck missing and a woman sat beside him holding the parts of his neck to her mouth while slowly sucking away the blood from the flesh.

I opened my mouth to scream but no noise came out. I couldn't move my legs either. Fear incased me in ice and I didn't know how to get out.

Papa tried to speak but blood kept gushing out of his neck.

The woman craned her neck to look at me. Smiling deviously with her mouth wide open, her teeth smothered in blood and guts.

The scream finally emitted from me when I saw how horrifying she looked. Her smile melted away the ice that held me in place. I tried to slam the door shut but it was too late. The woman was insanely fast, pouncing on the door and pushing it open before it got a chance to close.

I stumbled back before running into the living room to grab the phone to dial 911.

The woman with inhuman speed slowed to a walk as she appeared out of the kitchen, "Aren't you a little cutie?"

She had pale blue eyes that looked almost white. She wore this slimy green material that covered her parts and white blonde hair trailed down her back. The terrifying stare she gave me was enough to scare the wits out of anyone.

"The only person who ever cared about you is good as dead." she smirked.

Fury replaced my fear I clenched my fists before shoving the woman to the ground, surprising myself and her.

She was as light as a feather when I pushed her but letting my curiosity linger away, I darted up the stairs and locked myself in the bathroom. Propped against the door, I sat down and dialed 911 as fast as my fingers could manage.

"911 what is your emergency?"

"There is an intruder in the house and she attacked my father! Please sen-." I was cut short from a giggle erupting from the bath tub. The shower curtains shielded me from seeing anything except a figure sitting in the tub.

Another giggle came out and I made note of how it was feminine.

My face contoured in horror as I made an impossible thought that the woman from downstairs was already in here.

The sound of water splashing from the bathtub echoed throughout the room.

"Hello? Miss?" The operator said.

I forgot about the phone in my hand. I opened my mouth but I then heard someone trying to kick open the bathroom door. The thud of the kicks vibrated against my back as I squeezed my eye shut and whimpered for nothing but help into the phone.

The sound of the shower curtains opening made my eyes open. There in the tub full of water, another woman stood. She looked different but somehow still similar to the one I saw before. She began to hum a melody that lured my mind into a blank state. I found myself walking toward her as the phone dropped out of my hands. That's when I heard the door finally bust open.

"Hello Rin." She stopped humming and her haunting face etched its way into my mind.

Her almost white irises and silvery blonde hair made her a striking resemblance to the other woman, however her features were more serene and soft rather than bold and intense.

A strong hand clamped on my shoulder behind me and I jolted, realizing who it must be.

She lowered her mouth to my ear and whispered in a sickening lovely voice.

"You really hurt me Rinny."

I couldn't form any words before a shove caused me to go tumbling into the bathtub. My head hit the hard porcelain before I found myself in the water. The world was black but a throbbing pain in my head kept me conscious. I felt two pairs of hands keeping me in place underwater making it impossible to get up. The water filled my lungs and I panicked. The more I tried to scream, the more the suffocation got worse. I didn't know what to do, I was crying and I heard a shout and gasp from above. My vision was still blank but before I passed out, someone pulled me out of the water and held me close.


	2. Chapter 1

**AUTHORS NOTE: Yay first real chapter! Chapter two will be up on the weekend AND the chapters will be longer from here! **

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

**"Recurring Dreams"**

Aunt Lily stood by my window, pulling open my orange curtains.

I shot up from my bed, gasping for air. A thin layer of sweat covered my body.

"Rin, what's wrong?" She crouched down beside me.

It was the dream. I relived every part of that nightmare once again.

"It was about father's murder again…" I breathed out.

I was eight years old when it happened. I remember everything so vividly, the memories never faded. The flashback occurs in my dreams every now and then. It haunts me like claws that pry deep into my skin.

"Oh Rin." Aunt Lily said. Her face showed an obvious amount of pity.

"I wish I knew sooner that those therapy lessons were just making it worse." She looked away.

"It wasn't your fault, you thought it would help and you can't be blamed for that." I looked at her hoping my words would help ease her unneeded burden.

Therapy in all honesty, made it worse. The therapist was some woman named Haku Yowane. She kept on making me go to sleep and used words to provoke my father's murder to reappear over and over in my mind. She said if I relived it enough times, I would get over it.

Aunt Lily turned and looked at me. She was my birth mother's sister, with golden blonde locks and bright blue eyes. I always assumed my mother looked somewhat like her because my father, Ren, had black hair and dark grey eyes. There had to be some kind of explanation for my darker blonde hair and dark blue eyes that turned into an indigo purple-like color in the sun.

She let out a soft sigh and rubbed my right arm tenderly, "You might want to get up now. Gumi's going to be here soon."

Gumi Megpoid, my best friend who I have met when I moved here. Aunt Lily had been my only family member who was willing to look after me when father died. My biological mother died giving birth to me, father said that she would always love me regardless if she was here or not. Before Gumi, I didn't have many friends. Father always kept me at home except when I had to go to school. He said that it was dangerous out there. When I started fresh at the elementary school here, Gumi invited me to sit with her at lunch and that was how our friendship started.

"Arighty." I tossed my blanket to the side and went to the bathroom while Aunt Lily got up to go back downstairs.

In the bathroom, I grabbed my toothbrush and dabbed a bit of toothpaste on it before I started brushing my teeth. As I was brushing, I looked out the bathroom's window and saw our new neighbors move in. The large moving truck they used was parked slightly in front of our house. I paid attention to the female that walked out of the house. She was around middle age with a few strands of grey hair and light wrinkles on her face.

I spat out the used tooth paste and rinsed my mouth. I later proceeded with the rest of my morning routine. After I finished, I walked into my room to change into my school uniform. I stripped off my pajamas and slipped on the uniform which consisted of a short sleeve white button up shirt worn under a tan sweater vest with the school's logo sewn on the left chest. Female students would wear a navy blue knee length skirt while males would wear black pants.

Checking my reflection in the mirror on my vanity, I snaked my white ribbon through my blonde locks and tied my typical bow on top. After clipping on my white hairpins, I hand combed my shoulder length hair to appear somewhat decent.

While running down the stairs, I heard a car honk.

"Rin!" Aunt Lily yelled.

I rushed into the kitchen to grab a blueberry muffin and gave her a peck on the cheek,

"See you later."

"Take care!" she said as I walked towards the front door and grabbed my school shoes. I finished my muffin and slipped on the shoes before opening the door.

I spotted Gumi's car parked in our driveway. Closing the door behind me, I ran to her car, throwing open the passenger's seat door and climbed inside. After quickly catching my breath, I slammed the door shut and Gumi took off.

"I still wait to see the day you're ready before me." Gumi drove to the end of our neighborhood and soon we were on our way to school.

"Well, I woke up late today and missed my alarm clock." I said as I put on the seatbelt.

"We're you up all night texting Kaito?" She smirked.

"Oh shut up." I propped my arm by the passengers window, leaning my head onto the palm of my hand.

"You're lucky I'm going after Gakupo cause Kaito is definitely second on my list." She took a quick glance at me and winked before turning her attention back onto the road.

"Pfft Kaito is like number one on practically every girl's list at our school." I gave her light green cropped locks a playful flick.

"I wished Kaito would just ask you out already, like god its getting annoying watching the way he looks at you. Maybe you should be the first one to make a move." She muttered.

"Satan's ass! What happens if his just joking with me? He just broke up with that Hatsune chick. I am not someone's rebound that's for sure." I turned and stared out the window as my mind flashed different scenarios of what might happen if I ask Kaito out.

Gumi laughed and shook her head.

I craned my neck and looked at Gumi with interest. She has always been cute with her hairstyle and matching vibrant green eyes. Even when we were younger, she had boys chasing her on the playground. I was always a bit jealous when guys would flock to her; unlike me I was the girl who never had a boyfriend or her first kiss. Gumi would say that if I was just bolder, the guys would love me but I would never have her confidence.

"Stop staring, it's creepy." she gave me a sideways glance.

I laughed, "It wouldn't be creepy if it was Gakupo, right?"

"Damn right." she stated.

A faint smile played on my lips and I turned to look out the window again. We were nearing the school's parking lot.

As Gumi found a parking space, I leaned back into the seat and relaxed for a bit. Gumi ended up parking the car near the front. We got out the car and started to speed walk to the entrance but it was too late, a shrill ring alerted us that the late bell just went.

"Ah shit." I muttered as we ran to our lockers. I quickly opened my lock and grabbed my notebook and binder before slamming it shut.

I met Gumi down the hall and our loud footsteps in the quiet halls made my heart race. Everyone was already in class.

We reached our first class and turned to look at each other. We both had stupid grins on our face as I knocked on the closed door. It opened slowly, revealing a stern face.

The situation was not amusing to Miss Sakine.


	3. Chapter 2

**AUTHORS NOTE: **

**New chapter for this week as promised! :D A special someone gets introduced!~**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

"**The Boy Next Door"**

Our punishment was to stay after school and tidy up her classroom. I didn't really mind because Gumi was also here with me and her presence always made things more tolerable.

I was wiping the whiteboards while she straightened the desks.

"This is so worth it, seeing Miss Sakine all pissed off." The bottom of the desks and chairs screeched as Gumi tried to arrange them into neater rows.

"Yeah it really was, she seriously has a stick up her butt." I replied.

She turned and her bright green eyes gleamed, "You know what I heard? There's a hilarious rumor going around that Miss Sakine goes out to bars after work every day".

I had a toothy grin on my face while I shook my head. I turned and watched as Gumi walked up to where I was and leaned against the nearby wall. She was done so she waited for me.

I tried to erase a small spot at the top corner of the whiteboard before I hear someone knocking on the classroom door.

There in all of his glory was the holy Gakupo as Gumi calls him.

"If I knew there was going to be a gossip session on the worst teacher in this school, I would have came earlier." His long purple hair was tied into a low ponytail that swayed against his back every time he moved.

"Oh hey Gakupo!" Gumi threw on her special girly smile reserved for boys. I tried to mimic it once but it had failed horribly.

I turned away from the two and continued on trying to reach the top of the whiteboard with the eraser. Gakupo in general was a good guy; he would take good care of Gumi if they ever got together. However there was also someone else chasing after him and that someone was the "goddess" Luka. An upper classmate with beauty no one else can quite compare. She earned her nickname when she helped a random girl that fainted during class, at least that was what I heard.

"I think you got taller Rinny." He smirked as he watched me struggle. His violet eyes held a playful glint.

"Ha-ha." I muttered with equal sarcasm back but I jumped and cleared the spot. I wasn't that short, 5'3 may be a bit below average height, but I still have a few more years to grow.

Gumi latched herself onto Gakupo's arm, "Why don't we all go to that new ice cream place that opened at the mall?"

He removed his arm from Gumi and I frowned at the gesture. Gakupo took a deep breath before saying, "Actually I only came to here ask Rin if she wanted to come with Luka and me to the movies".

Gumi gave me a quick look before narrowing her eyes at him, "How come I can't come?"

"Err…Luka doesn't exactly want you to be there." He scratched his head nervously.

Oh man here it is, the famous rivalry between Gumi and Luka. Enemies since our first year in high school, we were in Grade 10 while Gakupo and Luka were in a grade above us. It's been a year and the venomous hatred between the two haven't calmed down. Luka doesn't mind me though, mainly because I only see Gakupo as a friend and nothing else.

I watched as the purple haired boy and green haired girl bicker back and forth, Gumi insulting Luka in every way possible while Gakupo tried to defend her honor.

I leaned against the board and crossed my arms. The situation was amusing to me.

"She's not bad right Rin?" He looked at me, turning their argument over to me.

"Ehh." I checked my nails and noticed that the orange color coat of nail polish I applied on yesterday was already chipping off.

"I don't know what Rin means but I know that Luka hasn't even done anything bad to you!" He moved his gaze back onto Gumi.

She clenched her fists, "You'll never understand Gakupo".

Okay this went on long enough.

I went ahead and interrupted the two by answering the question.

"By the way Gakupo, I'm not really interested in seeing a movie right now".

He sighed before looking at me, "Are you sure? We were planning on watching the new movie you wanted to see when the trailer first came out".

"Yeah no thanks, I don't want to be that third wheel." I looked at Gumi who had an unreadable expression on her face. The main reason why I didn't want to go was because I wasn't going to leave my best friend alone, and another one was that I honestly didn't want to be alone with Gakupo and Luka. We were kinda friends but that was because of Gumi who decided we should talk to the upper classmates on our first day.

Gakupo gave me a brief glance, "Alright, I'll see you two around then." He waved goodbye and then he walked down the hall.

Gumi stared after him with a distant look in her eyes. She never looked like this before and it worried me.

"So ice cream shop?" I tried hopefully to change the subject.

A familiar smile replaced her faraway look and relief coursed through me. Gumi was like herself again.

"Heck yeah!" She hooked her arm around mine and we speed walked together out the school and into her car.

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><p>I came home at around eight and the moment I stepped into the house, I realized that I forgot to call Aunt Lily and tell her where I was. Even worse, I left my phone in my locker when we rushed this morning.<p>

Aunt Lily of course was beyond hysterical.

"I called you a thousand times!" She began.

I braced myself for more yelling.

"I was literally about to call the police before I heard Gumi's car pull up in the driveway! I was worried sick when you never called back." Her voice got louder before she got out everything she wanted to say and then with a calmer quiet voice she said, "Why didn't you call back Rin?"

"I'm so sorry, I was at the mall with Gumi and I left my phone in my locker. I forgot to call you and we didn't pay attention to time." I sputtered out. Bad feelings like guilt swirled around me and replaced the happy ones I got from hanging out with Gumi. At first, we went to go try out the ice cream shop, but then one thing led to another and the next thing you know, we went to every teenage girl clothes store in the mall. We didn't buy anything which was usual for us at the mall because we just like to hang out there.

My apologies didn't feel enough to me, especially when I upsetted the only person in my family who was ever willing to take care of me.

"I don't want anything like this happening again, okay?" Aunt Lily stepped back and crossed her arms.

"Yes for sure. I'll double check that my phone will always be with me for now on." I tried to promise.

Her features softened and she asked, "Are you still hungry for dinner?"

"Nah I had stuff to eat at the mall." I replied.

She nodded and started to head towards the kitchen before she stopped mid step, "By the way, you're grounded for one month. You can earn back your privileges early by coming home right away and studying hard".

I went upstairs to get ready to go to sleep. I walked into my room and threw myself onto my unmade bed and exhaled a deep sigh.

I thought about calling Gumi and telling her what happened when I came home, but then I remembered that my phone was currently residing in my school locker.

Way to go Rin.

Honestly, it would be easy to say that I have a short term memory, but there are things that I can remember vividly and I hold things in my mind for quite some time.

The sound of a truck starting and driving away came from my window. I snapped out of my scattered thoughts and approached the window. I saw that it was our neighbors moving truck from this morning.

The woman I saw whom I assume is our neighbor came into my mind and I later began thinking about our last one.

She was also a woman, everyone called her Tamiko but she let me call her Tami. Her eyes were the prettiest shade of purple I have ever seen and she had long lavender hair that she would always put into a bun. She told people that she 38 years old, which I found completely astounding because she looked as if she was still a young adult.

Tami eventually fell in love with a man who was equally as attractive as her. I met him once, Houtarou was his name. He was kind and gentle; I thought he was perfect for her. When she got pregnant, I was so happy that I was going to have a new friend I could see as a younger sibling.

However, what happened next was devastating.

Tami was in labor but the child turned out to be stillborn.

She fell into a deep depression, rarely ever getting out of bed. I never saw Houtarou again. I tried going over to her house every day in hopes of making her smile at least once, but they were always forced, even as a child I could see it.

I came home from school one day when I saw police cars and ambulances in front of her house and I saw Aunt Lily run from her lawn towards me with tears falling down her face.

She embraced me tightly and sobbed.

"She's in a better place now Rin." her choked voice told me.

My body went still when I came to realize that Tami was gone.

I hugged Aunt Lily back but I never cried as much as her. A single tear slipped past my eye as we watch the ambulances and police cars drive away with her corpse.

The next day, I was informed that Tami's death was ruled as a suicide.

We never brought her up again after the funeral, but she still crosses my thoughts time to time.

I can never forget anyone I meet in my life.

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><p>The next few days passed by in a blur and before we knew it, Saturday was here.<p>

I invited Gumi over which Aunt Lily allowed despite being grounded. I behaved well and in return, Aunt Lily lessened the restrictions.

We hung out on the deck in the backyard. Sitting on white plastic chairs that got dirty over time from being outside with a bowl of chips on my lap. It was relaxing and just being here with Gumi was enough for me.

"Any ideas on how to get Luka away from Gakupo?" She said.

Gumi was looking at my new neighbor's backyard as she talked.

The neighbor's fence had always been painted white and the wooden boards didn't reach that high, coming to about maybe five feet or less. Given this, we could always see what was going on over there. Our view was even better when we were on the back deck because it rose at least three feet from the ground.

I looked over to where she was staring but saw nothing that caught my interest.

"I literally have no idea".

Her green hair swung as she turned back her head to look at me. She mumbled something about secretly plotting her murder while reaching over to grab a handful of chips.

"What happens if one day, you'll meet someone better than Gakupo? Someone funnier and chill, someone who you won't have to murder someone for." I said.

I didn't know how Gakupo felt towards Luka, but I don't want Gumi to have her heartbroken when Gakupo chooses Luka instead.

She kept silent as she stared into the neighbor's backyard again. A dazed look was formed on her face.

This time when I took another look, my breath hitched.

The cause of my sudden nervousness sensed our staring and turned to face us.

It was a boy. A gorgeous boy.

Bright blonde locks of hair were tied into a short pony tail and his best feature were the crystal clear cerulean eyes. Hair blonder than mine and eyes brighter than a million stars.

He lifted his arm and gave us a wave and a show stopping one dimpled smile.

Oh dear lord.

The white t-shirt he wore came across his chest and broad boy-ish shoulders. The color of the shirt gave his lightly tanned arms a nice color. His arms were worth an thousand words to describe them. They weren't skinny, fat or heavily muscled. Instead, they were nicely toned with slight muscle.

I kept on staring at him until he went out of the fences back gate and walked down the alley way.

A thought that reminded me that I must have look retarded caused me to snap back into reality.

Gumi gave a long whistle, "Holy hell is this boy even for real".

I laughed at her words.

"He kind of looks like a lighter version of you except his also taller and of course boy-ish looking." She said as she tugged the chip bowl away from me.

It was true, my dirty blonde hair and dark blue eyes were the night sky to his bright day.

"And to answer your question from before, I don't think I can easily just give up on Gakupo. I mean look, we just saw a heaven forsaken angel and I still prefer Gakupo." She said to me.

I nodded, unable to form words of what I want to say back.

"I think we just met the new number one on your list." She said while indulging herself with the chips.

I shook my head but that stupid smile formed on my lips.

"Do you think that the boy went far yet?" I asked while raising one eyebrow suggestively.

Gumi's all knowing smirk appeared, "Nope".

I got up and she did the same.

"Why don't we go do some research on some eye candy then?" I brushed my pants for any chip crumbs before going down the back deck stairs.

Gumi trailed behind before catching up beside me,

"Yes, why don't we?"


	4. Chapter 3

**AUTHORS NOTE:**

**I wasn't busy today so I typed up a new chapter C: **

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

"**Encounter at the Lake"**

Gumi was right, he didn't go that far. He was a slow walker, casually whistling as he admired the sights around him.

We slowly stalked behind him, occasionally hiding behind garbage bins in the alleyway whenever we thought he would turn around to look. He never did though.

"With his speed, he is a pretty hot grandpa." Gumi joked quietly.

I stifled a laugh as we began to creep closer towards him.

When we got out of the alleyway, he started towards the road that led to the outskirts of town.

"Where on earth is he going?" I mumbled under my breath.

"Maybe his meeting up with a secret underground gang." Gumi whispered.

I gave her a long hard look.

"What I said maybe okay." She looked away.

The boy began to speed up a bit when he reached a stop sign to cross the street. We walked a bit faster because he was finally picking up his pace.

We passed by a few houses before we were fully out of town.

There were times when Gumi and I wondered around in the outskirts. There weren't really much before you would hit the next town which was quite far. A few trees and small forests, but my favorite place was the big lake that was a bit off to the side.

We went there often in the summer times. Wearing our colorful two piece swimsuits and sitting on the ledge of rocks while dangling our feet into the deep blue below. Gumi would be the only one that would actually dive in and swim around. It was tantalizing how much fun she seemed to have, moving her arms and kicking her legs to swim faster. I really wished that I could join her but I can't.

Gumi tried to teach me how to swim but whenever I submerged more than half of my body in water, I start to panic. It kept on reminding me of those two horrible ladies and my near death experience. I wanted to not be afraid of dunking into water anymore, but I doubt that it would ever happen soon. A deep scar never really goes away.

The more we walked, the more I saw where he was headed and that was into a forest.

I recognized the forest, we didn't go in there often when we were younger but that was because the forest always had a creepy atmosphere to it.

"If you don't think that there might be a slight chance that he is meeting up with a suspicious gang than there's something wrong with you." Gumi said as she followed beside me.

"Okay just drop the whole gang thing okay?" I replied.

"But I mean seriously, who enters this forest when they come into town for the first time?" She tried to reason.

"How am I supposed to know? It's interesting though, maybe he does have some sort of secret." I turned to look at her and found her staring at me.

Gumi had a crooked grin on her face and walked a little faster towards him while mumbling nonsensical things.

The usually dark lush forest in the summer had light shining in through the newly turned orange and yellow leaves. It was autumn and the air had a nice chill to it. We were careful not to step on the leaves that would give away a crunch. A few stray leaves would fly past us sometimes and I fell in love with the scene around us.

I was lost in my thoughts before I felt Gumi grab me and drag me behind a tree while she went to go hid by the one beside me.

I took a quick peek from behind the trunk and saw that he stopped. We neared close to the cliff that had a death dropping plunge into a river below. I knew how it looked because we been there before. One of the few times when we were actually in this forest, Gumi and I were children playing tag when we spotted the scary sight. We never been back here because it would have been too easy to trip on the rocks and fall to your own death.

The boy walked cautiously towards the cliff and my eyes widened.

To both of our reliefs he just stood there, staring into the dark abyss.

I pressed down the urge to shout out to be careful but he didn't look like he needed my words.

He stood there for a while before turning back. Gumi and I stilled into stiff logs as he walked past us without knowing our presence.

I caught the look on his face as he passed near my tree. His light blue eyes had a sad look but his face showed a slight frown. An expression like his has never once been quite a sight to my eyes.

When we were a safe distance away from him, I let out the breath I was holding while my heart pounded furiously.

"Okay what was that? He just came into the forest to look at the cliff?" Gumi said when we were fully in the clear.

I shrugged because I honestly didn't know.

"If his around our age which is very likely than he'll be at school on Monday." Gumi said as we started to head back too.

"Yeah and then what? We just approach him and ask what the hell was he doing in the forest today?" I replied sarcastically.

"Hey hey hey, I'll work on some kind of plan. Kind of like how we talked to Gakupo on our first day." Gumi placed her hands on her hips as we walked and an air of determination came from her pose.

I groaned as a joke because Gumi's plan when we approached Gakupo wasn't good at all.

She gave me a playful smack to my arm and I had a good natured smile on my face.

Even though she might think of the worst plan ever, I did want to get to know this boy.

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><p>Monday came faster than I expected. On Sunday I just stayed at home because Gumi had errands to take care of and I didn't feel like going anywhere. I looked out my window a couple of times, hoping to catch sight of the boy but he was never there.<p>

I dragged my legs down the halls at school and found my third period class before entering.

As soon as I entered, I saw him.

He was sitting in a desk in the back left corner whereas my usual seat is in the back right corner.

I kept on looking at him as I made my way towards my desk and never once did he look up. My mind wondered if Gumi had any classes with him so far. I couldn't wait to tell her this after school.

The teacher soon entered and class started. He did attendance and I paid attention when he called out the boy's name.

Len Kagamine.

The teacher gave Len a quick welcome and everyone turned to look at him. I could hear the girls giggles and whispers and it made me feel a bit uncomfortable .

Class blurred by and then a bell that signaled that the period was over, rung. I stuffed my books into my backpack and swung it over my shoulder. I took a quick glance at Len who was already heading out the door. My next class was upstairs but it looked like he was heading towards a different classroom. I shrugged off my slight dismay and headed up the stairs and down the hall.

Soon last period ended and I found myself waiting by Gumi's locker.

She had on a tired expression when I caught sight of her and usually, I was tired by the end of the day too, but today was different.

I smiled with my mouth open and resisted the urge to jump up and down when she neared me. I looked around me and then I told her that his name was Len. Immediately, her eyes lit up, "Oh my god, you have a class with him?"

"Heck yeah." I said as I crossed my arms and leaned against her neighbors locker.

"You're so lucky, I didn't have any with him." She pouted.

My smile never faded away and it only grew bigger when I saw that he was coming down the hall, "Dude look!"

Gumi whipped her head around and saw him come too.

When he walked by us, he looked at me for a long time and I felt my smile go away and my mouth was left slightly parted.

Gumi grabbed my arms when he was gone and she looked so happy, "Dude! He was literally staring at you!"

I contained inside a random burst of energy and said, "I know oh my gosh.".

We stood there like the ridiculous girls we are until we calmed down a bit.

"Len Kagamine." I rolled his name off my tongue.

"I like it." Gumi said and I agreed.

* * *

><p>I came home and laid down on my bed while Aunt Lily went out to go grocery shopping. She came into my room before she left and asked if I wanted to come but I told her that I was too exhausted from school.<p>

Thoughts of Len cluttered my mind and I couldn't stop thinking about him. I need to stop because I was turning out to be obsessive.

I texted Aunt Lily and mentioned that I was going to relax by the lake. I grabbed a new monthly edition of my favorite magazine from my nightstand went out through the back door downstairs.

The walk to the lake was not long and I memorized it like as if it was a part of me.

I sat down on the commemorative bench that was built in the honor of some person who lived in the town. It was on this small hill that led down towards the lake.

I read for a while before I heard a faint but audible splash coming from the lake.

My head shot up to see who it was but I didn't see anyone.

I squinted and got curious. I closed my magazine and rested it on the bench before I stood up.

I came down the hill and went up to lake. I walked around the perimeter of it before I stopped in front of someone's blue colored flip flops.

Bending my legs, I stared at the shoes before looking up into the distance. I made an the prediction that the flip flops belonged to the person who jumped in, but then I got worried because they have been down there for a while now.

I walked up to lake and got so close that if I took another step, I would fall in. A giant fish swam underneath the water and it made me jump back. What on earth? Fishes aren't supposed to be that big, especially around a remote town like this. I shook my head, maybe my eyes were playing tricks.

My eyes were focusing on the water again and I jumped a few feet back when a familiar face popped up.

I knew her because she was Miku Hatsune, Kaito's previous girlfriend.

Her pretty face was twisted into a weird smile, "Hiya Rin".

"Uhm hi", I said while I looked around and scratched the back of my head. Oh boy did I ever feel awkward.

Miku got out from the water and I saw that she jumped in with the school uniform on.

Her long teal hair was undone from their usual high twin tails but she still looked nice despite the watery mess she was.

"What brings you here?" Her oddly sweet voice said.

"I was on the bench reading when I heard something fall into the water." I mumbled, trying hard to make eye contact with her.

I quickly realized that she wasn't out of breath from staying underwater for a long time.

"Ah, I like to come here for a swim here and there." She said as she slipped on the flip flops.

"In your school uniform?" I asked and she laughed.

"I really love the water so it doesn't matter but I wear." Miku replied as her teal blue eyes sparked excitement.

"Oh okay I see." I mumbled lamely.

"Guess I'll see you around? I need to go somewhere." She started to walk in the opposite direction that led somewhere else.

"Yeah uhm see ya." I gave her a wave before I headed back towards the hill.

This is why I am not part of the popular crowd. I am a awkward person and another reason was because I had Gumi and she was enough for me.

I grabbed my magazine and started to walk home.

Days like these happen rarely for me.


	5. Chapter 4

**AUTHORS NOTE:**

**I finally updated the cover of this story ;o I might eventually change it again lool. This chapter is also one of the longest I have ever typed! AND ALSO Moonlight queen, thank you for reviewing! **

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

"**A Trip to the Beach"**

I came home from the lake and saw that Aunt Lily was already back. She was in the middle of unloading the groceries when I saw Len walk out of our house.

I nearly dropped my magazine.

He must have caught me staring because he turned and looked at me while he was making his way towards Aunt Lily's car.

Once again I thought that I must have looked pathetic just standing there so I worked up the courage to give him a small smile before I speed walked back towards the direction of the lake.

I got maybe a few feet away before I heard Aunt Lily call my name.

"Rin!"

Oh no. Dear God please no.

Turning around slowly, I saw that Len was helping Aunt Lily unload the groceries.

"Rin! Come help me bring the groceries into the house." Aunt Lily waved at me.

I reluctantly walked back to them but when I got really close to Len, I warily watched my steps. I tucked my magazine under my right arm and reached inside the trunk and grabbed a bag with my free hand.

"I'm not sure if you guys have met yet, but Len is our new neighbor!" Aunt Lily said.

Even though I already found out the news a few days ago, I gave her a tight smile and turned to look at Len.

My face turned hot and I resisted the urge to look away when I introduced myself to him.

"Hi Len I um, I'm Rin."

"I think we go to the same school." He replied.

"Yeah we do." I finally looked away. The heat from my cheeks made me feel weird.

"Well then, why don't we bring all the stuff into the house first and we can sit down and properly introduce ourselves as your new neighbors?" Aunt Lily proposed.

I was probably going to do or say something that will humiliate me in front of him because being around someone as attractive as Len was something I was really not used to, especially when Gumi is not around. I didn't get a chance to say anything before I heard him say something else.

"That would be very nice Miss Kagami."

My aunt perked up cheerfully and grabbed two full grocery bags before rushing into our house, leaving Len and I by ourselves.

I followed after her as I remembered I had a bag in my hand too when I heard Len say my name.

"Rin?"

"Uh yeah?" I didn't turn around but stopped cold in my tracks.

There was a moment of silence before I heard him say something.

"Never mind it's nothing."

I whipped my head and saw that he was looking at the ground with his left hand scratching his head.

He looked so cute in that pose but I closed my mouth shut before I said something that I would regret and marched into the house.

After kicking off my shoes and dumping the bag onto the kitchen's counter, I ran up the stairs and locked myself in my room. I will not be present when Len comes into our house to fully introduce himself while I was with Aunt Lily. I made that clear in my mind.

I chucked the magazine at my nightstand lazily and looked around my room before grabbing my laptop from the desk and jumped into bed. I hid under my orange sheets and opened up my laptop.

Opening messenger, I saw that Gumi was thankfully on so I speed typed a message to her.

"Len is at my house right now and I have no idea what to do"

She didn't reply back right away so I opened up my internet browser and typed "YouTube" into the search bar. Watching videos will help me ignore this current situation.

I was in the middle of a video when Gumi replied.

"OHMYGOSH WHAT THE HELL GO TALK TO HIM OR SOMETHING"

I thought I wouldn't be such a wuss when I got the chance to talk to him but I guess I am.

I rapidly typed out my reply before hitting send.

"Are you kidding me I could barely make eye contact with him up close plus my aunt is friggin here too"

This time she instantly replied.

"NO YOU DO NOT PASS UP AN OPPORTUNITY LIKE THIS GET YOUR ASS OUT THERE btw what is he even doing at your house?"

While I was in the middle of reading her message, I heard someone knock on my door.

"Rin?"

It was Aunt Lily.

"I'm busy!"

I heard her sigh.

"Rin please, we have an guest downstairs."

"And I have stuff to do!"

"Is it homework?"

"Uh no…"

"Then if you don't come downstairs this moment I will make your grounding stricter again."

Goddammit Aunt Lily is ruthless sometimes.

I typed and sent to Gumi,

"Aunt invited him over and i needa go so i'll tell you details later"

I climbed out of my bed sheets and hesitantly opened the door.

She was already going down the stairs and I followed her behind slowly.

Once I was in the living room, I saw that Len was sitting comfortably on the couch while drinking a cup of tea that Aunt Lily must have brewed.

I sat at the spot farthest away from him and made myself appear as tiny as possible without it looking too obvious.

Aunt Lily chose a seat closer to him and they began to make simple conversation while I listened.

When she asked him why his family moved here, I made sure I paid extra attention.

"Uh my older brother passed away recently and my parents thought it would be a good idea to start fresh somewhere else." Len looked around uneasily as he talked.

My head shot up as I turned and stared at him.

I didn't know what to say but I was certainly not expecting this to turn sad.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Aunt Lily said softly.

"Yeah well, they said it was an accident but I…err don't know." He focused his attention on something out the window.

"What do you mean by I don't know?" I asked before realizing I opened my mouth without knowing.

Len looked at me again and this time it didn't falter my stare nor made me feel the blood rush towards my cheeks.

His bright blue eyes showed doubt and darkened a bit before he replied.

"I was unsure about what the police told us, he died by drowning but he was a strong swimmer. He worked as a lifeguard and sometimes taught kids how to swim at the local pool back where we lived."

"Oh." I said lamely because I didn't how to reply to that.

"He had a good life too, a loving girlfriend and captain of the football team, so I didn't think that it was a suici-never mind." His golden blonde locks shook with his head.

"Well Len, if you ever need help we're always here." Aunt Lily said as she suddenly took my hand and I gave her a look.

"Thanks uh Miss Kagami it means a lot." He placed the tea cup back onto the tray and stood up.

"I think I should probably head back now."

"Yes it's getting a bit late and please, it's Lily! It was nice meeting you Len!" Aunt Lily let go of my hand and started to stand up too.

"It was nice meeting you guys too", Len's mouth curved into a small smile.

He started to head towards the door and then he was gone.

"I never knew something so tragic could have happened to him and his poor family." My aunt said.

I stood there, lost in my thoughts. I didn't know if this was something I could tell Gumi even though we always tell each other everything.

I later told her that night that Len was a bland and boring person.

Even though he really wasn't.

* * *

><p>The next day at school was a haze until last period which was my class with Len on that day.<p>

When I walked into the room, I saw that he was already there in his seat. He looked like he was busy texting someone on his phone.

I went to my seat and class began.

I forced myself to not look at him the entire period and focused on my work.

The dismissal bell rang to signal the end of the school day but I was still in the middle of answering a question on the worksheet so I stayed in my seat for a bit longer.

While working away, a shadow appeared from the corner of my eye and I looked up and surprised to see who it was.

Kaito Shion.

"Hey Rin." He gave me a lazy grin as he stood in front of my desk.

"Oh hi Kaito."

His blue eyes were calm and assuring and his face had a soft expression, "I was wondering if you wanted to come with me and Gakupo on Saturday to the beach at the next town?"

I was wondering why I wasn't nervous like how I was with Len. A surge of confidence rushed through me and I smiled.

"That would be awesome actually. Are you guys going to pick me up?"

He smiled back and said, "Yeah you can text me your address later but just warning you, the road trip is going to be about 2 hours maybe longer."

"Oh that's fine. I don't mind road trips."

"Great, see you around then." Kaito gave me a small wave and started to back away when I realized something.

"By the way can I bring Gumi?" I asked.

"Yeah of course, Luka has to babysit this weekend so it should be fine and I'm sure Gakupo will be okay with it."

"Alright, I'll ask her when I get the chance." I gave him a toothy grin which he returned before turning around and disappearing down the halls.

Never in my life would I ever have thought that I would be going on a long road trip with Kaito. Heck, I was even surprised that I agreed because while I talk to Gakupo regularly, it wasn't a strange thing with him. With Kaito, we barely hang out. I didn't know if I actually had feelings for him when I told Gumi he was the number one on my list.

I shrugged to myself and decided to just go with it. I couldn't see anything bad happening because Luka or Miku weren't going to be there.

I finished my worksheet and packed up my stuff and then I stood up from my seat. The almost empty classroom came into my view while walking down the desk aisles. I handed the sheet to the teacher grading at his desk.

"Have a good evening Rin." He said without looking up from his work.

"You too." I responded and walked out of the room.

Going through the empty hallways, I walked to my locker and saw Gumi leaning against it while playing some kind of game on her phone.

As soon as she saw me, her eyes lit up to that brilliant shade of green and she rushed towards me.

"I heard Luka was busy this weekend and I was thinking maybe I could ask Gakupo to hang out!"

I remembered what was happening on Saturday so I said, "Dude we're going to the beach on Saturday with Gakupo and Kaito."

Her expression was beyond ecstatic as she jumped up and down while grabbing my arms.

"OH MY GOD! YES YES YES YES! We're going to have so much fun! Just us with no Luka."

I laughed, "Yeah we are."

I went to my locker to get my stuff and soon we were out of the school and into Gumi's car.

* * *

><p>I woke up on Saturday morning feeling excited while throwing my blanket to side.<p>

Running to my closet, I stripped off all my clothes and slipped on my favourite orange pastel bikini with a bow at the front on the top and smaller bows on the sides of the bottoms. I wore a daisy print sundress over the bikini and hand combed my hair before tying on my white ribbon and clipping on hair clips to keep the bangs out of my eyes.

Grabbing the tote bag under my bed, I ran quickly to the bathroom to find a towel to lie down on when we're on the sand. I chucked the towel into the bag with my phone.

Running down the stairs, I went into the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast and saw that Aunt Lily was already up and she was peeling vegetables for dinner today over the sink.

I poured some cereal and milk into a bowl and sat down before eating it.

"Remember to come home before dark." She reminded me.

Aunt Lily has been pretty lax about the grounding thing now, and it basically felt like I wasn't even grounded for longer than a day when the rules came into place.

"Yeah of course." I assured her.

After finishing my breakfast, I put the bowl near the sink and went to the front door and slipped on my flip flops.

My phone vibrated in my bag and I fished it up and saw that Kaito texted me that he was going to be here with the others in a few minutes.

I waited outside and ran down the front lawn when his car showed up in our driveway.

Gakupo was sitting in the passenger seat so I opened the back door and climbed in to join Gumi in the backseat.

She gave me a big smile, "Hey girly."

"Heyyy!" I drawled out.

Kaito turned to look at us and asked if we were ready for a two hour drive with no bathroom breaks and we replied with a yes.

The car ride started out not bad at all but an half of hour later and Gakupo started complaining about how he had to take a piss and we groaned at him.

"Why don't you go pee into the forest on the side of the road?" I jokingly said.

"I have decency okay?" He mumbled.

Gakupo managed to suffer through the whole trip with a bladder coming dangerously close to leaking. When we arrived at the beach, he swung open the door and ran as fast as he could to the public washroom. We laughed at him as we got out the car ourselves.

Carrying my tote bag with one hand, I used my other to grab Gumi's hand and we swung our arms happily as we walked closer towards the water with Kaito trailing behind us.

I found a not so crowded spot and laid my towel down before taking off my dress and kicking off my flip flops. I sat on top of the towel and I applied on the sunscreen that Gumi brought.

"You gonna work on your tan?" She asked when she stripped off her dress too. Her bikini was a dark green with some ruffles on the top and bottom.

"Yuppers." I replied.

"Aww Rin, you're not going to go into the water?" Kaito said. He already took off his shirt and was in the middle of taking off his pants.

"I prefer not to."

"Wh- OW!" He got cut short when Gumi gave him a rough kick to his leg.

"Hey look, Gakupo is coming!" She changed the subject and I gave her a silent thanks.

The purple haired man ran towards us wearing his swimming trunks. He held his clothes on his arm and dumped them where ours were when he was near.

He said something to Kaito and they laughed. I gazed at their toned bodies but I didn't feel nervous or flushed whereas Gumi had pink tinted cheeks while she stared at Gakupo.

"We're gonna go into the water now Rin, but feel free to join us whenever you want." Kaito said to me as he brushed his blue bangs over his head.

"Yeah okay." My voice was low as I mumbled.

The three of them chatted with one another as they walked into the water. I laid down on my back and gazed into the cerulean sky.

For the beginning of autumn, the weather was still pretty hot in this town.

Heat from the sun warmed my body and I found myself in a comfortable position. While looking at the white clouds that spread across the sky above, random thoughts rushed into my mind. They were about school, Gumi, Aunt Lily and even Len. I thought about his brother and how horrible it must have been to lose him. I thought about how his death didn't make any sense to me and Len. There was something missing from the puzzle but I had no idea where to begin looking for it.

I fell into a light slumber a while later.

I didn't remember what I dreamt when I was startled awake by Kaito.

He was holding my legs while Gakupo held my arms. They were laughing when I realized they were taking me near the water.

"Put me down!" I yelled, and tried to move but they had a strong grip on my limbs. I looked around for Gumi but she was nowhere to be seen.

"Rinny, you can't just come to beach and not take a dip in the water." Gakupo said above me and he chuckled.

"People go to the beach to tan all the time!" I argued.

They didn't say anything back as they continue to laugh harder.

When we were past the shallow area of the water, I started to panic.

"Guys please!"

Ignoring my words, soon Kaito and Gakupo were in waist deep and I was just floating on top of the water. They held me as high as they could and started to swing me back and forth.

"3!" They counted down.

"2!"

"1!"

I was thrown into the cold water and all I saw was darkness. Clamping my mouth shut, I tried really hard not to scream even though I was freaking out. Screaming will only make me drown more. It wasn't as deep as an ocean's depth, but they threw me far enough that if I tried to stand up, I would still be submerged in water. I just floated there until I was brought closer to the surface. Sticking one arm out, I tried to pull myself up but I felt someone's hand on my ankle and they pulled me farther towards the deepest end of the beach. If this was still part of their joke, then I am never talking to them again.

My attempt of trying to kick off their hand failed as they had an iron hold on my ankle. I think I was crying, my heart hammered wildly against my chest and my lungs were about to explode if I didn't get oxygen soon.

I eventually gave up trying and let my body fall limp. That's when I felt the hand on my ankle disappear and someone grab me from somewhere else. I couldn't see but I was pushed up against a hard chest and soon we broke through the water's surface.

My vision came back fast in a blur. I was choking for air when I saw that it was Kaito who pulled me out. There was about maybe an inch of distance between our faces and normally I would have moved away by now but I couldn't. He didn't loosen his hold of me, if anything he held me tighter in his arms. His expression was filled with so much worry that I felt angry. It was his goddamn fault that it happened.

"You were down for so long..." He began.

Once I had enough oxygen in me again, I yelled at him.

"I told you! I freaking told you that I didn't want to get in the water!"

"I-"

"Just take me back to the sand okay?"

He obeyed my command and held me to his chest again as he swam back to the shores.

When we were on land again, I pushed away from him and embarrassment swarm all over me. How pathetic of me. I couldn't swim back myself and my eyes were probably red from crying. Gakupo tried to touch my arm but I backed away from him too.

"Rin we're really sorry we didn-",

I cut him off.

"Listen I don't care what you have to say. Just…just where is Gumi?"

The boys looked at each other before Kaito spoke up and said that she ran to get help from a lifeguard when I didn't come up right away. Even though Kaito said that he could pull me out himself. I listen to him blabber apologies until I heard a familiar call from behind.

I turned around and saw my best friend run towards us.

"Rin! Oh my god Rin!" She engulfed me into a tight embrace.

"Gumi." I whispered into her hair.

She turned to look at Kaito and Gakupo and gave them a harsh glare. Her arm held me protectively close while she used the other to point at them,

"We are going home now, whether or not you're going to drive us back."

"I'm going to drive you guys back, don't worry." Kaito said.

"Wait never mind, scratch that. I rather not get back into a car with guys who won't listen." Gumi moved me with her towards the spot where I laid my towel.

"We're going to take the bus home, is that okay?" She asked.

"Yeah I rather be in a bus than with them anyways." I said as I picked up my towel and shook off the sand before using it to dry my body. I folded it and put it back into my tote bag and took out my phone to check the time.

3:46 pm.

I slipped back on my dress and saw that the boys were heading over here to get their clothes too. All the excitement and happiness from the trip was killed.

I grabbed my flip flops and put those back on too and looked over to see that Gumi was waiting for me. Picking up my tote bag, we walked together to a nearby bus stop.

When the bus that would take us home came, Gumi went in first and dropped in a few coins that would pay for both of us. She tugged my arm and we went to go sit at the unoccupied seats in the middle.

Once I sat down, I leaned my head on her shoulder and closed my eyes.

The question that disturbed me greatly came into my mind.

Who was the person who grabbed my ankle?


	6. Chapter 5

**AUTHORS NOTE:**

**I'm actually so glad I managed to get this up before Sunday ended ;o;**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

**"The Connections"**

When the bus arrived at our town, we went to Gumi's house. I didn't have to go home yet because it was still early in the day, and Aunt Lily said I don't have to be back until later.

Gumi lived in a middle class neighborhood like me. Her house was painted white and her lawn was always kept spectacular because of her dad. I met both of her parents when we first became friends. They treat me like as if I was their other daughter, which I don't mind at all.

Her parents were at work, so we went inside and headed straight for her room upstairs. There were spare bedrooms because Gumi was an only child and her parents shared the master bedroom together.

I fell into a big green beanbag chair by her bed and made myself feel comfortable. Gumi's room pretty much matched her hair, everything was green, green, green.

"You doing all right?" She asked.

"Mhmm"

My eyelids fell down, and soon darkness replaced the view I had of her room. I was so tired, but I didn't want to fall asleep because I already took a nap at that beach and I'm going to have trouble sleeping tonight if I took another.

I could hear Gumi plop down on her bed and turn her body by the sounds her bed sheets made.

"The nerve of those guys, I swear I'm never going to talk to Gakupo again!"

My mind was in a blank state. I didn't want to think about what happened. I wanted to forget about it and just move on. My anger and hatred towards Kaito and Gakupo dulled down, and now I'm left with an empty feeling that makes me want to just do nothing.

"They were just trying to play a joke, I could have just told them about my fear and they wouldn't have done it." I said.

"They could've drowned you!"

"But they didn't."

Gumi sighed.

"Why are you so forgiving?" She said quietly.

I opened my eyes and turned my head a bit and saw that she was looking at me.

I had a hard time trying to determine what she was feeling based on the expression on her face. There was something about her sudden calmness that had hints of worrying buried deep in.

"I don't know."

She stuck her arm out demanding my hand, which I gratefully gave. We stayed in that position with our hands intertwined, and quietness settling in the air that surrounded us. My eyes eventually closed again and I could hear Gumi slowly falling asleep too. Our energy that we had in store for today was gone.

I just sat there while Gumi was napping. Our hands still clasped together as I tried to relax in the low chair.

It had been awhile before I heard one of her parent's cars pull up in their driveway. I could hear heels clacking when they entered the house so I assumed it was her mother who was home.

My phone started to vibrate in my bag so I took it out and checked who was trying to text me.

It was Kaito.

"You got home alright?" He wrote.

I didn't know if I should reply or not but I did anyways.

"Yeah"

He didn't respond back.

I threw my phone back into my bag and used my free hand to rest my forehead into. A headache began to come on and I started to get uncomfortable again.

Gumi stirred on her bed and she woke up.

"What time is it?" She asked groggily.

"Almost 6," I remembered the time when I checked my phone.

She sat up and let go of our hands to stretch, "I think you should go home now."

Standing up, I yawned and grabbed my bag.

"Yeah I should probably get going."

"You need a ride back?" She asked.

"Nah, I'll just take the bus again."

I waved her goodbye and left the room.

When I walked down the stairs, I came face to face with Sonika, Gumi's mother.

"Hello Rin!" She said with a smile.

"Hey Sonika," I tried to say back cheerfully.

She always insisted I call her by her first name rather than her last.

"How's it going? Gumi's upstairs right?" Sonika smoothed back her darker green hair.

"Good and yeah, I was just about to head home."

"Ah well, you have a good evening Rin! It's always so nice to see you." Her smile never once faltered.

"You too, Sonika." My mouth formed a tight smile directed to her before I walked to their front door and exited the house.

I loved Gumi's mother, but I wasn't feeling like myself so I faked everything. I didn't like it but it was all I could manage right now.

There was a bus stop at the end of Gumi's street, and as I walked on the sidewalk, I looked up at the sky. The afternoon blue skies turned a light orange as it greeted the early evening.

When I arrived at the bus stop, I sat down on the provided bench and waited for my bus to come. I checked my phone again and saw that Kaito still haven't replied yet. I sent a quick text to Aunt Lily to notify her that I was coming home now.

The bus came short after and I got on. I put some change into the box and was about to turn around to look at that available seats when I heard someone say my name.

"Rin," A male voice said.

My head whipped around and I saw that it was Len.

"L-,"

I was cut short by the driver.

"Please take a seat miss."

"Oh yeah sorry."

I walked down the aisle and Len waved me over to sit with him.

I was feeling nervous when I sat down.

"Uh hey Len," I said.

"So why are you out right now?" He asked.

I turned to face him even though it took every inch of my willpower because we are so close together right now. My thigh brushed against his and he would be able to see every detail on my face when I turned.

"I was at my friend's house, so I'm just going home right now."

"Oh I see, well I'm heading back too."

So we'll even get off at the same stop. We'll be beside each other for the whole ride and I didn't know how I felt about that.

"Where did you go?" I tried to continue the conversation. It was better than an awkward silence.

"At the library, I was researching something." He looked out the window now, staring at the cars that pass by us.

"What were you researching?" I was actually curious.

"Just some stuff." Len offered vaguely.

"Oh c'mon just tell me, I won't judge." A real small smile formed on my lips.

"Okay well, it was just some history behind this town and the previous one I lived in."

Even though he wasn't facing me, my reflection was shown in the window and he could clearly see that I was still looking at him.

"Why do you want to know about that?" I asked.

Len was silent for a moment.

"Remember how I said my brother's death didn't make sense?" He turned, so now we were both looking at each other.

I nodded my head.

"I think someone killed him on purpose."

My eyes widened.

"Wait wh-,"

Len cut me off before he explained,

"I know it's crazy and horrible, but there is just something about this town that makes it seem similar to my last one. I knew there were mysteries buried somewhere so I did some research."

"Okay wait, what do you mean that there's something about this town? You also didn't fully explain why you think someone murdered your brother."

Len looked around and when he saw that no one was paying attention to us, he went back to talking.

"On my first day here, I went out for a walk and this girl caught my eye. She had long teal hair but I never saw her face,"

Only one girl in this town has teal hair and we all know who it is.

"So I saw that she was heading somewhere in the outskirts of town, and I don't know how to explain it, but she was humming some song and I was lured in by it. My mind went blank; all I saw was her and nothing else. She eventually stopped in front of this deep cliff, and next thing I know she jumps in and lands into river."

I remember this now, Gumi and I followed him too, but we never saw Miku and of course we didn't see her jump to her own death. My mind was so confused, I saw Miku perfectly fine after that day but Len claims that she still jumped.

"The girl, her name is Miku Hatsune. Everyone knows her, but Len, no one could have survived that fall." I said when he paused.

He shook his head,

"I know, but she came up for second and dived back down into the river. Miku never came back up for air and I was stunned. I thought I was seeing things, but then I rememb- wait, how do you know what cliff I'm talking about?" Len stopped himself short and gave me a look.

"W-well I've been in the outskirts of the town before, and there is only one cliff in the area." I nervously said. No way in hell was I mentioning that we followed him.

"Oh okay well, I was saying that I remember my brother telling me a story similar to this when he was still alive. I didn't believe him then because he was drunk off his ass. I had to drive him home after a party but he kept on blabbering about a girl with nice singing voice who led him towards a lake when he was away at football camp. He eventually snapped out of it when he saw that the girl disappeared somewhere."

It took a while for me to absorb all this information, but then I started seeing connections.

"Len, did your brother tell you what the girl was wearing?"

Len looked like he was deep in thought before he replied,

"Yeah, she was wearing this green substance wrapped across her chest and bottom. He said it looked like seaweed."

I froze, the two women from my childhood. The memories came rushing back, like in my dreams. The beautiful voice, the way I was lured in. The chances of them being from the same type are too high.

I must have been quiet for too long because Len waves his hand in front of my face,

"You okay? Your face paled."

"Oh uh yeah, so what happened after you remembered what your brother said?"

"Rin, why did you ask about what they were wearing?" Len said instead of answering my own question.

"No reason, I was just curious." I looked away.

"Huh,"

I couldn't see the look on his face, but judging by the tone of his voice, he didn't believe it but he didn't press any further about it.

"Okay, and so then like I told you, I did some research about these two towns history and I found old newspaper articles in both towns about sightings of these strange beings."

"Did you find out any specifics? Like their names and what they do?" This was getting weirder and weirder as the conversation went on, but I didn't find myself doubting anything. It was like I already believe in this other scary fantasy side of this world.

"No, but I am getting there." Len said.

He sounded like as if he was unsure himself.

"You know, I'm actually curious too, I might help you with the resear-, "I was cut off when the bus driver slammed on the brakes.

Someone screamed in the front and the bus swerved to a sharp turn off the road.


	7. Chapter 6

**AUTHORS NOTE:**

**Oh gosh this chapter is even shorter than last weeks :x I promise next weeks chapter will be longer! I was listening to Leia as i edited this haha xD If ya'll enjoy this story, then please review/favourite/follow! **

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><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

**"A Bus Incident"**

I would have fallen out of my seat if it weren't for Len.

He grabbed my arm just in time before the bus hauled to a complete stop.

"Everyone please stay seated!" The bus driver yelled.

The people on the bus started to murmur and the person who screamed stood up,

"THE GIRL, YOU HIT THE GIRL OUTSIDE!"

I got a clear view of the person and saw that she was a girl herself. She had light red hair and matching eyes. Her face would have been pretty if it weren't for the horror etched on her features.

A guy with silver white hair also stood up and tried to coax the girl to calm down.

"Miki please, just sit back down." He looked around the bus and saw that everyone had their sights trained on them. When his eyes met mine, he held his gaze for a few seconds before turning back to Miki.

"He hit a girl Piko!" She yelled.

The bus driver decided to get up now and said something quietly to both of them. He gave everyone else on the bus a quick glance before he stepped outside.

I was curious to see what actually happened. I got up from my seat and grabbed my bag and walked down the aisle, even though the bus driver told us to stay where we are.

"What are you doing?" Len said.

"I'm going to see what's going on." I turned to look at him and saw that he got up to follow me.

We passed the other seats and ignored the stares people gave us. When we got to the front, we came face to face with who I assume is Miki and Piko.

"What are you doing up here?" The silver haired boy looked us up and down.

Up close I saw that he had a stunningly gorgeous face with his heterochromia eyes. His left eye was blue while his right was green.

"We're just wondering what happened." I said as Len walked up to stand beside me.

"The bus driver ran over a girl! I was near the front and I saw it happen!" The girl whipped her head at us and talked so loud and fast. If the situation wasn't like this, I bet she was a very charismatic and cheerful girl with that kind of voice.

"What did the girl look like? Where is the driver now?" Len asked.

She looked like she was thinking about something before answering the questions,

"Pink hair, she had pink hair! I don't know, he told us that he was going outside to check."

Len brushed past the pair and walked down the buses steps to go out himself.

"Len!" I called out before I followed him too.

When we were outside, the air was noticeably chillier and the sky was darker. Len's taller frame was right in front of me as he led us to the front. The bright headlights gave us a clear view of the scene.

The bus driver was crouched down on the road looking underneath the bus.

"I told you guys to stay seated." The bus driver spoke to us very quietly. I almost couldn't hear him.

"We're sorry but we just wanted to know what happened." Len answered in a louder voice that startled the man.

He stood up to face us directly. His face looked frightened and if you paid enough attention, you could see that he was slightly shaking.

"I-I swear I didn't see her! She just randomly showed up in the middle of the road!" He gripped the hair on his head. His eyes were so wide that it made me scared.

I started to walk up when a voice boomed from behind us.

"Where is she?!"

The red haired girl and heterochromia boy decided to come outside too.

"There's no bod- ,"

I was cut short when she ran up and pushed me aside.

"Ooof!" I was nearly shoved off the road if it weren't for Len again.

His strong hand kept a tight grip on my arm to prevent me from tumbling down the hill that was beside the road. When I was at the edge, for a second I noticed a pink flat shoe with a blue bow at the toe sitting at the bottom of the hill. I shook my head and told myself that it was nothing.

"Thanks for catching me twice hahaha." I tried to lighten the atmosphere.

Len didn't get the chance to say anything back when heterochromia boy came up.

"I'm so sorry for Miki, she's not usually like this I swear." He tried to apologize for her actions.

"Oh yeah its fine, we're probably all freaked out right now." I said.

He looked only at me even though Len was right there too.

"I'm Piko by the way, and if you haven't guessed it by now, she's Miki." Piko pointed at the girl who was now down on her knees looking underneath the bus.

"Oh I'm Rin and his-"

"Len."

The blonde boy took one step towards Piko and gave him a hard look.

"Nice to meet you Rin and_ Len_," Piko had on a tight smile as he looked at Len.

Miki's loud voice erased whatever tension was in the air between the boys.

"I'm calling 911!"

The bus driver was beyond frantic now.

"Maybe we were just seeing things! If I actually have hit her, shouldn't she still be here?"

"Miki! If no one was harmed than there is no need." Piko walked away from us and went to Miki.

I heard my phone vibrate in my bag and took it out. Gumi sent me a text.

"Ur aunt called to see if u left yet and I said yeah."

Oh god it's been that long already? I replied to her text and she immediately sent one back,

"Where the heck are u?"

My mind quickly thought of a way to word the situation to Gumi,

"I think the bus hit someone and now we are in the middle of somewhere"

Looking up from my phone screen and seeing the commotion going on made me decide to steer away from it.

"Do you think we should go back on the bus?" Len turned to me.

"Yeah, the situation will eventually solve itself soon."

We headed back on the bus and everyone who stayed put started shouting out questions.

"Did he hit anyone?"

"Are the cops coming?"

"Was it actually a girl that got hit?"

Len and I tried to answer all of them to the best of our ability as we walked back to our seat.

Once we sat down, I let out a big sigh.

"You were saying something before the bus stopped." Len tried to bring back our conversation.

"Oh yeah, I was going to say that I was willing to help you with the research. I'm kind of curious myself."

"That'll be great actually, we'll find out answers faster together." His blue eyes lit up

"I can go to the library tomorrow, I have nothing else to do anyways." I said as I planned out how I'll get there. It was true that I had no plans tomorrow and Aunt Lily would have no problems with me going to the library.

"Okay, I'll be able to meet you there at noon." Len said as he reached into his pocket to grab something.

"By the way what's your number? I figured it would be easier to keep in contact." He had his phone in his hand and looked at me expectantly.

We exchanged numbers and by the time we were done, the bus driver came back on with Piko and Miki.

The trio had unreadable expressions on their face. Miki was oddly quiet as she and Piko sat back down.

"Nothing to be worried about, we will continue with the route as normally." The bus driver sounded like a robot.

"I wonder what happened when we left." I muttered.

"No idea." Len replied.

"Oh well, I'm sure nothing that bad could have happened."

I realized then that I was getting more comfortable around Len. I wasn't as nervous like before and Len was a pretty chill guy.

As the bus started to drive away, I saw Piko turn his head to look behind him. Once his eyes found mine, he kept a steady gaze before giving me a soft, friendly smile.

I looked away.

"So what classes do you have for the first term?" I turned back to Len.

We kept a light conversation going about school and random things. Len talked more about his old life and I learned that he had an ex-girlfriend named Rui and that our birthdays were on the same day.

I wanted to ask more about Rui but I felt as if that would have been too weird.

The bus finally arrived at our stop and we got off together. I figured that it was already too late to even check the time on my phone.

We walked on the sidewalk until we reached my house first. I waved Len goodbye and he started to head towards his own house.

I went up the front lawn and rang the doorbell to my house. Aunt Lily opened the door and she had on a stern look.

She let me inside before she started talking,

"Do you even know what time is it right now?"

I raised my hands up in defense,

"The bus got into a accident and so that's why I came home late. I swear, Len can vouch for me, he was on the same bus too!"

Aunt Lily sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Just go eat your dinner." She walked into the kitchen.

I ran upstairs first to drop my bag in my room before coming back down.

After eating my cold meal, I dumped the bowl into the sink and went back upstairs to take a shower.

I turned the shower to a hot setting and stripped off my clothes before going in.

The hot water made me feel relaxed. I stayed in the same spot for a long time before I heard Aunt Lily yell at me to get out.

I toweled myself dry when I stepped out and put on the pajamas I brought in with me.

The steam from the hot shower and my tired state made me feel hazy. Walking into my room, I located my bed and threw myself on it. I haven't brushed my teeth yet but I'm sure one night can't do much harm.

I yawned and my eyelids started to fall down.

Tomorrow was going to be a new day.


	8. Chapter 7

**AUTHORS NOTE:**

**Another chapter up on Sunday night hahaha xD once again, I was busy this weekend but this chapter is longer than last weeks! Remember to fave/follow/review if you like the story so far!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

**"Duo of No Good"**

I woke up from the sunlight bleeding in through my curtains.

While I yawned, I stretched my arms and reached over to check my phone for any missed messages. Gumi sent me one earlier in the morning that said that she was going to be busy with errands, which I already knew because it's a regular thing for her.

I got up from the bed and started with my morning routine. Once I was at the stage where I finished dressing myself, I went downstairs to eat my breakfast before I leave to go to the library. When I was in the kitchen, I saw Aunt Lily cook eggs over the stove.

"Morning," I yawned again.

"Good morning Rin, sleep well last night?"

"Yeah I guess."

Pulling out a chair and sitting down, I rested my head in my arms on the table.

"Any plans today?" By now she finished the eggs and started putting them on plates accompanied with toast.

"Oh yeah, could you drop me off at the library? I need to do some research." I didn't know whether or not I should add that Len will also be with me.

"Oh really, is it for homework?"

"You could say that."

"Alright, when do you want to go?"

"Like when we're done eating."

"Of course! You rarely go to the library so I'm a bit surprised right now." She handed me a plate before she went around and sat across from me at the table.

"Oh well I thought I should start you know." I was keeping things quite vague. I didn't want her to think that I'm loony because of the research I'm going to do about unrealistic things.

We ate our breakfast and after that, I waited by the front door while Aunt Lily went to go get ready. She had to go to work after she dropped me off.

When she was done, we went outside and got in her car. I looked over at Len's house and saw that his mom was out watering the plants.

Aunt Lily started the car and we were off.

As we approached the library, she said that she was picking me up when she gets off, which was between the late afternoon and early evening.

I stepped out the car when we were in front of the building and waved her goodbye. She drove off and then I was on my own for now. I walked into the library and the automatic sliding doors greeted me. Shelves of books filled my sight. I didn't know where to start, so I asked the nearby librarian where the supernatural section was. She pointed to the area near the back corner.

When I walked there, I noticed that the library was quite empty which I guess is normal on an early Sunday morning.

As I look over the books on the shelf, a lot of the titles didn't relate to anything about creatures who wear seaweed and sing magical songs. I scanned over another part of the shelf and saw something that caught my eye, a book about mermaids. I seriously considered whether or not that there could be a possibility that it was a mermaid and took the book out anyways in the end. Finding a place to sit down and read was easy because there were a lot of tables and chairs and basically nobody was here. I found a table by a window and sat down and opened the book.

The tables of contents weren't that much of a use to me because I was going to read every page in the book anyways. The beginning pretty much talked about the basic stuff you would see in that Disney movie about that red haired mermaid. Underwater creatures with tails who spend their entire life in water because they can't possibly survive on land.

I started getting bored pretty fast and skimmed through the rest. It didn't mention anything about them luring people with their voice and not to forget that they can't be on land. I shook my head, how could I ever have thought that it could be mermaids killing people?

However in that instinct, as if my thoughts tried to contradict myself, I got a quick flash of memory of the giant fish tail I saw in the lake the other day. At that point, I didn't even know anymore. I wanted to tell myself that it wasn't real but revisiting it now after hearing Lens belief of the fantasy life that exists behind humanity, my mind started to take on the consideration.

I grabbed all the other books about mermaids and sat back down and started flipping through them. Mostly none of the stuff I read could be of use because it just talked about the author's belief of how mermaids have come to exist.

It was almost noon when I raised my arms to stretch when my eye caught on a particular sentence in the current book I was reading,

_Mermaids are not to be confused with sirens._

I stared at the word sirens. I have no recollection of where I have heard of that word before. Reading over the paragraph where it mentioned the sentence, it didn't say much about them. It was just how they are water creatures like mermaids.

When I continued to skim through the rest of the pages, my phone vibrated in my back pocket. I took it out and saw that Len texted me. He said that he couldn't make it to the library today because of the family things that came up and that he had to take care of.

I sighed and rested my cheek in the palm of my hand. I was a bit exhausted from looking through the books and I wasn't in the mood to research anymore.

Aunt Lily wasn't picking me up until way later, but I didn't want to wait that long. I thought about taking the bus back home or even walk because it wasn't honestly that far. I made up my mind and decided to walk home instead, I could save the pocket change for a bus trip I can use if I really needed it on some other day. I sent Aunt Lily a quick text that I was done researching for now and that I was going to start to head home. She didn't reply but I assumed that she was busy at work or something. I shoved the phone back in my pocket and picked up the books to put back.

Walking out the library, I saw that the parking lot was still empty aside from the two cars I guess belong to the librarians. The stillness and isolation in the air made everything seem uneasy. The sun wasn't out today but it wasn't exactly chilly. Cloudy grey skies gave me a signal that it was probably going to rain later on, so I thought that I should probably get home soon.

I started on the sidewalk that would take me home if I headed straight. As I came up to a cross walk, a red convertible with two girls sitting in it drove slowly by me. I squinted at them and realized that it was Miku and Luka.

My eyes widened in surprised.

"Oh my gosh, it's Rin!" Luka said as she noticed me too.

Miku shot her head in my direction and smiled.

I didn't know what to do as they started to come closer to me.

"Hi guys," I gave them a tight smile.

"Hiya Rin! What are you doing out today?" Miku asked sweetly.

"Oh, I was doing research at the library for my homework." I told them what Aunt Lily believed.

"I see, well we're going to the mall, would you like to come with us?" Luka offered.

"Uhh I don't know…"

Truthfully, I didn't want to be alone with them because they kind of intimidate me, especially now after what Len told me about Miku.

"C'mon it'll be fun, just us girls!" Luka was trying to persuade me into going. I don't even know why she would want me to be there.

I thought about it, and I was leaning heavily on no. However, I didn't want them to think that I thought of Miku as a very suspicious figure and I didn't want them to think that I was the loser who refused the chance to hang out with the prettiest and most popular girls at school. Who knows what kind of rumors they might spread about me.

"Uhmm wel-"

"I'll take that as a yes! Hop in the car." Luka waved me to come closer.

I searched right and left in my brain for an excuse not to go, but also one that doesn't make me seem uncool.

"Don't just stand there dummy! Come in!" Miku called out and giggled.

My back hunched a bit when I couldn't come up with anything.

When I didn't move, Miku frowned.

In that moment, I heard an angelic voice go through my head that numbed me completely. It was singing words I couldn't comprehend. I wasn't struck with how strange something random like this could pop up in my mind because I was feeling way out of balance. My feet picked up on their own and walked up to car to open the door.

Once I was inside, I closed the door and that's when I regained back my mind as I realized what I have done. I stared at Luka in disbelief as she pressed a button that made a roof come over us in the convertible.

"Just cause it looks like it's going to rain." She explained.

I was unable to form words.

The car ride as I dreaded was something I should have avoided. They asked me what happened at the beach and they started to say that they're on my side. Luka was badmouthing Gakupo but I knew she didn't mean anything because she obviously likes him.

When I looked out the window, I noticed that we weren't anywhere near the mall, which I should have expected because the whole situation was shady to begin with.

"Uh guys, shouldn't we be close to the mall by now?"

Luka and Miku shared a look with each other and giggled. They didn't answer my question.

"Uhm guys…"

Miku turned around and gave me this smile as she laughed.

Oh crap something bad is actually going to happen. I now worried that this was going to somehow similarly turn out like that movie I watched about a poor blind girl being kidnapped by two other girls who bring her to a place out of town while they physically and verbally abuse her and leave her stranded because she couldn't see and find her way out. I wasn't blind but the other parts could happen.

I mentally screamed at them because something definitely happened that made me become so easily manipulable.

"Oh Rin, you are so easy to control." Miku threw her head back and laughed even louder.

Luka joined her and she started to speed the vehicle until I knew we were well past the limit.

I was officially scared.

I considered opening the car door and tucking and rolling out. There was the possibility I could die because I never attempted anything like this before and the car was going at a deathly speed.

It was either that or staying with the two freaks who probably planned beforehand something horrible that they are going to do.

Before I got the chance to do anything, Luka pressed on the switch that locked all the car doors.

Well there goes that idea of running away.

I figured they probably won't answer the questions my mind are exploding with, so I sat back and looked out the window to see where we're heading for clues.

Luka was driving up to the forest I knew all too well.

When she parked the car on the side of the road, she and Miku unbuckled their seats and unlocked their doors so they could get out.

I acted in the moment and reached over to press the button that unlocked my door too. Once I got that down, I swung open the door and tried to run away.

My feet weren't even a inch away from the car before the singing voice came back into my mind.

I blanked out again and let my body move by itself without my control. My mind was fighting somewhere for this to stop. My arms fell limp by my side but I still had a tiny dominance over them. I tried moving them up but it was like pushing it through hardened cement.

"Ugh, hurry up Luka. It's getting harder and harder to keep her in my command" I think Miku said.

My vision blurred and I jerked when I felt someone grab my arm and drag me with them.

"Rinto is a son of a bitch for giving us this stupid task." I heard somebody say.

I was barely gripping on to consciousness by now. The singing was getting so loud that it became almost unbearable to keep up with the person grabbing me. A painful throb started to echo throughout my brain as this white light started replacing my blurry sight of the forest trees.

"We're here."

The grip on my arm lessened as they shoved me up.

The voice stopped and I can feel that I'm slowly regaining back everything I lost.

I tried to register where we are based on the sounds of water moving somewhere near us. Someone kept on pushing me up to a ledge I could somewhat see by now.

My mind put two and two together when I realized what really was happening. This was the cliff Gumi and I avoided. This was the cliff where Len saw Miku jump.

"Please no! NO!" I screamed desperately as I tried to move back but I was blocked by a body.

There was a chuckle in my ear before I was pushed to my own death.

It was so fast, my deafening screams and the way I moved so easily through the air. I headed face first into the river and blacked out the instant I made contact.

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><p>The moment I opened my eyes, I saw that I was floating on top of the river.<p>

I didn't remember what happened after I crashed into the water.

I certainly didn't feel like I was dead, in fact, I felt energetic and very much alive.

It almost didn't hit me that I wasn't freaking out because I was basically floating on top of a deep body of water.

Kicking my legs, I propelled my body towards the side of the river. When I got there, I got a good grip before turning myself around which caused me to submerge my body in water. It was easy to pull myself out now, and once I was on land, I fell down on my knees.

Pulling my phone out, I tried to turn it on, but of course the water ruined it.

I was away from reality for so long in my mind that I forgot what even day was it. Sunday must have passed by now and I couldn't dare to fathom how much Aunt Lily must be worried right now.

The only thing that was below the cliff was the river that looks like it goes on infinitely. I guess I could walk along it and see what's beyond me.

My clothes were drenched in water but I wasn't even cold, I was really warm instead. There were so many things wrong with this situation that I decided to just leave them alone.

I walked along the river that guided me. I wasn't in my right mind, but it wasn't like before when I had no control of my body.

I didn't know what to expect, but I saw someone run towards me from the distance. As they came closer, I saw the long teal pigtails bounce as she ran faster and faster.

"Oh good, your alive." Miku said when she approached me.

"Excuse me?! They could have you arrested for attempted murder!" I yelled at her.

She narrowed her eyes and smiled.

I had enough of this. A terrifying surge of anger rushed throughout me as my hands curled into a fist.

"You are going to tell me exactly how I'm supposed to get home or you better not doubt that I will hurt you."

Obviously she didn't take my threat seriously because she laughed.

"AHAHA Oh Rinny, you think you're stronger than me?"

I slammed my fist into her face and she stumbled back.

She regained her stance and smirked.

"Things are going to be a lot more fun now."

What happened next was in the blink of an eye, she grabbed my arm and jumped back into the water. Her iron grip gave me no choice but to comply.

When we were deeper into the water, she started to glide through it effortlessly. I didn't need air like Miku and I wasn't scared out of my mind when we hit the water. My eyesight also didn't blur and I saw through the water crystal clear. Something was seriously wrong with me.

"It's faster this way." She said.

I was too far gone to even understand why I could hear her underwater or even know what she meant.

Miku lead us to this underwater city that looked like it was passed beyond anyone's imagination. There was a giant white stone castle in the middle of everything and it had seaweed and shells decorated across its walls. All the other buildings were made and decorated the same way too but they were smaller and the designs the seaweed and shells made varied. Each building also had this weird colorful glow of luminescent light. Even though we were at the bottom of some body of water, it wasn't dark because the light was that bright. From the view above, the place could be described as breathtakingly beautiful.

A rainbow of fishes began to swim past us and I was already in awe just by gazing at their iridescent scales.

I was too caught up with the sight in front me that I forgot that we were now hovering in front of the big white castle.

"You ready?" Miku said.

"Ready for what?"

"To meet the person who created all of this and sent you here."

"And who is that?"

There was a pause before she answered.

"Rinto."


	9. Chapter 8

**AUTHORS NOTE: Hihi! I have a long weekend so I might be able to get another chapter up sometime in the next days but no promises ;o This chapter will explain a lot of things as well have a new conflict arise! We are nearing the middle of the story. There is going to be at least 10-30 chapters left. If you enjoyed the story so far, than please follow/fave/review! It means a lot to me!**

**Okay question for the reviewers!**

**Who is your favorite character so far? I would actually like to know what you guys think! ^^**

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><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>

**"Lord in a Underwater Kingdom"**

I had no idea who she was talking about.

"Will Rinto explain to me what the hell is going on or do I have to commit a massacre before I get answers."

Miku laughed again in her high pitched voice, I also noticed that she lessened her grip on me.

"Oh Rinny your so funny, say why don't you dump that Gumi girl and hang out with me instead?"

I yanked my arm out of her grasp.

"In your dreams,"

I tried to move back but I soon came to realize that I had no idea how to move underwater. Angling my body a bit, I tried to paddle but it got me nowhere. A nasty smirk formed on Miku's face.

She grabbed my arm again and dragged me towards the castle in front of us. When we were at the grand entrance, it was guarded by two guys who instead of legs, had a long tail.

Astonishment and shock were the only two things I could sense myself feeling right now.

I almost didn't want to mention what they probably are because than that means that these creatures actually exist and the research I did wasn't all for nothing.

The guys were both shirtless but it showed their strong stomachs. Each wielded a large glaive-ish looking weapon with seaweed wrapped decoratively around the shaft. The one on the right had red hair with matching red eyes and his tail had shimmering scales in shades of silver. The one on the left had rich blonde hair and golden eyes that had hints of brown. His tail was the prettier of the two; the scales were a mix of orange and yellow.

My face must have displayed some kind of odd expression because one guard took one look at me and laughed.

"Gods above, is that the girl Hatsune?" The blonde one said.

"Yup, she played hard to get but I caught her anyways." Miku winked.

"Lord Rinto has been waiting, you should probably go bring the girl to him." The red headed boy said in a serious tone.

"Aw Ted, you were always such a downer. I want to stay and talk to Nero!" Miku pouted. She looked ridiculous and childish.

"Miku…" Ted said sternly.

"We'll catch up later Hatsune, but bring the girl too. I want to _properly_ introduce myself." Nero smirked.

"Alright, later guys!" She called out before dragging me again. Her voice gives me a headache now.

Inside the castle, up close the white stone walls gave a pearl-like shine. A big chandelier hung from the center of the entrance room. Replaced by regular light bulbs, what gave the chandelier light were these round shaped periwinkle glowing objects. We were first faced with a staircase that later split into two. There were no paintings or portraits hung up when we went through one of the multiple hallways. It made sense since we were underwater and water would only ruin the paint. Instead, there were strands of glimmering large pearls and jewels that draped along the walls extravagantly. If it weren't for my current abducted situation, I would have loved to show Gumi this place.

While I was gazing at the beauty of the interior design in the castle, Miku lead us to a room I could tell was humongous because of the size of the stone doors. The doors were closed and once again there were two guards with tails but this time it was a girl and a boy.

They nodded at the sight of Miku and they pushed to open the grand doors that had these intricate designs carved in.

When the doors were fully opened, Miku yanked me across the room and parked me right in front of a man who sat on a golden throne with sapphire colored cushioning. Beside him were two smaller thrones but they were empty.

The teal haired shrew let go of me and went to stand to my side as she bowed in front of the man.

"Lord Rinto, I have brought her at your request."

Rinto looked like a combination of me and Len. His blonde hair was lighter like Len's but his eyes were a deep darker blue that was sort of similar to mine. Though with his title, one can assume he would be of an older age but he looked like an adult in his early 20's. He was dressed in luxurious silky clothing that made him look regal. I almost didn't notice the yellow scaled tail that he had instead of legs.

At this point, everyone we saw so far had a large fish-like tail except for me and Miku.

When Rinto stood up, his tall figure intimidated me.

"Welcome to my kingdom Rin."

I didn't know what to say at that moment even though I had millions upon millions of questions from before.

"I assume you have some things to ask about why I brought you here?" He said.

I remembered what I wanted to say now.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You asked for me to be kidnapped and almost killed?!" I shouted.

Miku slapped me. She looked at me with anger.

"Talk to him with respect you low life garbage."

I wasn't going to hold back anymore. I had it with Miku. I pushed her so hard that she lost her balance floating in the water that she somersaulted a few times backwards. She wasn't going to be in control of me anymore.

"You're the only low life garbage around here!" I screamed at her. My rage burned fiercely through my veins and I found the new sudden ability to move through the water by tilting forward and kicking my legs. I went up to her recovering figure and violently attacked her in every kick and punch I know of. When she yelled at me to stop, it gave me the fuel to hurt her even more.

It was then when my rage sent this unstoppable force through my arms and in return, the water started whirl into rapidly growing tornadoes above my palms.

Miku looked at me with horror.

"ENOUGH!"

Rinto's voice shattered whatever I had going.

When the water returned back to normal, I stood startled over Miku's bruised and beaten body.

I froze in place, unable to comprehend or move. Questions I was supposed to ask Rinto plagued me instead. What is wrong with me? Why can I be underwater and my senses will behave as if I'm on land? Why can I accept the feeling of being submerged in water now? What did I just do with my hands to manipulate the water like that?

Miku finally found the strength to stand up after a while. She swam passed me and out of the room, leaving without a word.

"Rin"

I slowly turned my head to face him.

His small smile surprised me.

"You really are my daughter."

* * *

><p>It was a long time before I had the answers I needed.<p>

Rinto tried to explain to me what was going on to the best of his ability. He told me to sit on one of the thrones to which I reluctantly agreed. The creatures that live in his kingdom are divided into two races called mers and sirens, both immortal creatures that stop aging after reaching adult age.

Mers had the long fish tails I saw and they possess the power to manipulate the water and ocean and other aquatic animals. They are unable to go on land or be deprived from saltwater because then they'll die despite their chance to live forever.

Sirens have the powerful ability to lure and control humans on land. Their singing voices were so beautiful that they could capture any girl or boy. They also need saltwater after being on land for more than a day but they also need to eat human flesh if they want to continue their long life. However, Rinto explained that sirens don't need human flesh anymore because of the potion drink called Mira. It was invented and named after a mer who created it so sirens didn't have to prey on humans. A siren only needs one bottle of it and they'll be free from murdering a human to survive.

The creation of Mira was only made possible with the marriage between the Alpha of sirens, Lady Neru and Alpha of mers, Lord Rinto.

What Rinto told me next brought up the lies I was told as a child about my mother.

If what he said is the truth, then Lady Neru and Lord Rinto were my biological parents.

My presence was to be brought to him since my birth, but my mother wanted to keep me to herself and went to raise me on land with a human lover named Ren. She gave up her immortality, which in turn granted her the life as a normal human being. Rinto spoke harshly about her because of the affair and saying how she abandoned her responsibility as co-ruler in the underwater kingdom, which I later found out is called Syannalia. Her disappearance led to searches for her, but instead found Ren and I. Neru has left us for reasons no one knew except for her and now she remains a universal mystery.

The sirens the Lord sent by mistake were furious about Neru leaving so they had the intent of massacring whatever life she made for herself on land. It explained Ren's murder but he said that his plan for me was different.

Neru turned me mortal when I was born so I was fully human. According to Rinto, a siren or mer who turned human can regain back their powers and immortality by submerging in sytaslia, the combination of saltwater and some other unknown magical ingredient that existed way before the Kingdom of Syannalia. The two sirens tried to drown me in the bathtub which was filled with sytaslia.

After moving in with Aunt Lily (I don't even know if she's really my aunt anymore at this point) the mers and sirens lost track of me until recently when Len moved into town. Len's mother, Lenka, was a loyal companion to Neru who also left the kingdom when she did. She turned mortal and started her own family. Lenka was considered a target like Neru so it brought on hatred by the water creatures. Lenka was stalked and a hateful siren killed her firstborn son to send a message that they were coming. She thought she did the right thing by moving into a new town, but the stalker never went away and in return, it attracted the water creature's attention to me when they moved in right next door.

Miku and Luka were a siren and mer in the local community who had no idea who I really was until they were commanded to follow me around before they found the perfect situation to transform me.

Sytaslia water makes up the river I was dropped into and the entire body of water that Syannalia is in.

It was because of them that I now have the ability to live underwater. It was because of them that I'm no longer human.

Hours must have passed by while Rinto explained what he knew. I took in the information greedily without thinking twice that it might all be false. All my life I wanted to know some kind of reason behind the murder of the only father figure in my life.

However what I just heard is also everything Len was researching for, his brother's death.

While I was absorbing everything in, I was pricked by a realization.

Is it even possible for me to go back to my old life? I just need to find someone to undo this transformation so I can be human again.

"Can I ever go home?" I asked suddenly.

Rinto frowned.

"This is your home Rin."

"No, it's not. You have no control over me; I will find a way to go back." I stood up and glared at him. My shock from manipulating the water before is gone, and now it has been replaced with the unforgiving and persistent anger. Who do they think they are? I never asked for this. I never would have wanted to ask for this.

Rinto crossed his arms as he stood up too.

"I spent well over a decade looking for you Rin, and you know why? You're the hybrid power I need for my military. You have both the abilities of an Alpha mer and siren!"

"You think I care about that? I don't give a rat's ass about your military. You kidnapped ME!" I swung my arm to point at him but without knowing, I accidently set off a strong wave directed towards him which knocked the Lord back a bit.

"I didn't want to do this Rin." He shook his head sadly.

"Wait wha-"

"GUARDS!"

The guards at the door came rushing in using inhuman speed. They flanked my sides and each grabbed an arm, prisoning me.

The lord walked in front of me. He lifted two fingers and touched my forehead with it.

It was the last thing I remembered before the dark world greeted me once again.

* * *

><p>I woke up locked in a room decorated fit for a royal. I was on a comfortable bed with sheets that felt like soft silk.<p>

I had to escape.

Propelling myself out of bed, I used my new found way of movement through the water and searched the room for anything. There were no windows which I should have expected, and the only stuff that was around was a closet full of beautiful dresses and a vanity.

I went up to the locked door and patted my bangs for my hair clips. They took them out.

Props to them for being smart and making sure that I would literally have no way of escape.

As a desperate measure, I banged on the door and called out.

"HELLO? ANYBODY THERE?"

I heard guards murmur to themselves and before I knew it, the door opened to reveal Rinto and a pissed off Miku by his side.

"Did you run to your gal pal Luka after you got the shit beaten out of you?" I smirked.

"You know what you little bitc-"

"You woke up earlier than I expected." Rinto cut her off.

A random idea popped into my mind. I could run away if I could summon a strong wave or tornado like before and knock them out and the guards behind them.

I lifted my arms up and swung them around. Nothing happened.

"What the hell are you doing you mental?" Miku frowned and crossed her arms.

"You need to have a strong emotion flowing through you to manipulate water." Rinto sensed what I was trying to do.

"Whatever." I gave them the harshest glare I could manage.

"Anyways that aside, you'll obey my rules and attend classes starting tomorrow on how to use your abilities. I need you strong and ready for my army." Rinto said.

I balled my fists.

What he just said is exactly what I needed to turn on the switch that made me feel angry. I could feel a slight swirl of water around my hands but I didn't get the chance to increase the force because everyone saw what I was attempting to do. The guards came in again to hold me in their grasp.

"I should watch what I say but it shouldn't matter soon. You will be under my control Rin. You are my daughter after all." The lord came up to me with a prideful and confident look on his face.

I kicked my legs like crazy as I cussed at him, hoping that I hit him. One of my kicks landed on his tail which startled him to move back.

"Stop it! His the lord of this kingdom! You might think you're strong but where do you think those powers came from?" Miku yelled at me.

"You know what Miku? You're in no position to yell at me! I will find a way out of this prison but I'll kill you before I leave."

Miku maintained her hateful glare as if she was unfazed by my statement.

I screeched and kicked even harder.

"I will not be your powerhouse slave you shit of an excuse of a ruler." I screamed at Rinto. My movements were restricted but my words weren't.

The Lord shook his head sadly and stepped forward to touch my forehead again to zap me back unconscious.

"You won't control me."

My words repeated once again in my mind as I felt myself slump into the never ending cycle of the power and control Rinto had.


End file.
